The AXIS Lock springs and I

If it were me, I would call Benchmade and INSIST they send me two new springs. (They would do it, even if it broke their policy) I can be, and am, very persuasive though. :) Merry Christmas!
 
Mephtyrm said:
The knife has not been sent out yet, so I'll see what can be done with the music wire.
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I would strongly suggest you NOT try and fix it yourself or tinker with the knife further.

As has been suggested in this thread many times, CALL (1-800-800-7427) Benchmade customer service, explain that you have already sent this knife in before for warranty repair for the Omega spring's and that they have broken again.

Explain your age and situation and ask if they don't offer for them to send you a pre-paid mailing label as I'm sure they will.

Then send the knife back to BM and let them fix it. Let the professionals handle it. That's what their there for. Best to get it fixed, and fixed properly then experimenting. That's my advice.

Shy of following the above I think you are only asking for further, prolonged aggravation.

All the best!
 
Springs break. It's a fact. The more you cycle them, the greater the odds are that they'll fail.

My recommendation is to have your knife repaired by the manufacturer one more time. Then when you get it back, treat it with the respect it deserves and it will likely last you a lifetime with no further issues.
 
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Did you by any chance look to see if there is any kind of burr or abnormality in the pockets inside the scales (the hollowed out areas where the springs/axis lock resides)?
 
I agree that it needs to go back. I know it's a pain in the butt, I'm betting they'll figure it out. I recall reading a post somewhere on here I believe that it's wise to grease the area the springs ride on along the steel frame. I started doing this and I've never had a spring break on any of my BM's. Whether or not this makes a difference, I dunno. :)
 
It's unfortunate that two small springs can stop the functionality of a great knife. There's two of 'em at least and rarely do both break. I know the Axis lock is among the best, but somethimes there's comfort in owing and carrying a Linerlock, with very few issues, or IMO a well designed lockback that aside from having to close two-handed (or on the pants leg) are relatively bombproof.

Was I reading these comments, an engineering type at Benchmade, I would start installing heavier springs like those used on the Adamas, and/or increase the flexability with the existing versions.
 
No lock is perfect. Springs do break on Axis knives. Manix 2 knives have been known to have the ball cage break. Linerlocks and framelocks can wear and develop gimpy lockup or, rarely, fail to engage enough to lock at all. Compression locks have been known to exhibit vertical blade play and can be sticky. Anything produced on a production basis is going to exhibit failures from time to time. Sounds like the OP has had more than his share of bad luck, which is a bummer. :(
 
Yup, my Buck 110 owned 'bout a million years ago had the steel spring break, snapped the blade on an SAK once, and closed the blade on my hand with a Schrade slip joint that had weak springs. Moving fast forward, I owned a 672 Apparition with the Optimizer that I could spine whack every time, and it was the only knife ever owned in modern times that Benchmade couldn't fix. Maybe I'm lucky with the whole Omega spring failure where the OP got to see the other side of that. I think the word that best describes this is "Impermanence", which I always have so much trouble with. :rolleyes:

Also note in my post above I used the two words: "Very few issues" and "Nearly bombproof". That sort of, maybe, might cover all the bases. Or not. :foot:

Hope everyone's having a good Christmas if you're celebrating it.
 
I got two spring breaks on my 525 mini presidio. First time i emailed benchmade and they was so kind and send few replacement springs and full set of screws (i'm not from US and it's difficult to send them a knife). I successfully replaced two springs with new ones and was happy for 3-4 months :) But one day i got next break :grumpy: I have some springs left, but i lose faith to original springs and started looking for something else.
I bought in nearest fishing store some leader wire, tried it and it's was what i need! It strong almost as original springs and super elastic!
This wire: http://www.afwhiseas.com/product-p/sti100b-15ft.htm
I gave it's a shape like that and it worked like a charm:
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3.jpg


Ahh and benchmade is still my favorite knife company! :D
 
Not surprised. I've never had to do it, but there various posts here over many years about using music wire (guitar strings) have seemed very plausible.

I've sometimes wondered whether it would have been possible to design the Axis lock with one of the thin rectangular cross-section coil springs and eliminate some of the issues with the omega springs without increasing the thickness of the knives much. Coil springs have a theoretical advantage in some applications because depending on how they're supported they may retain full functionality even if they break.
 
I don't know if anyone here still remembers this, but I did end up buying music wire and making AXIS lock springs for it, here are pics; a lot of things happened in my life since that post and I'm sorry for taking so long; the knife has been great ever since and the homemade springs have never broken at all!

 
BEBrewster said:
I don't buy this story.
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I've had everything from Pardue, AFCK, Ritter to Osbourne with NOTHING like you have experienced. Flicked and beat the hell out of all of them with no
problem whatsoever. Don't waste any money on the lottery; luck just ain't with you.
 
How often did you take the knife apart and put it back together back when you were having the breaks? Ever? I've heard of some models not having a big enough pocket milled in the scale so when it is put back together it pinches the spring and causes it to bend at one point instead of over the entire loop of wire.

I also had a spring break probably 10 years ago now. I made a new set using 0.025" MIG welding wire. I haven't sold any knives with AXIS locks so it's still being used without issue. I also made a couple sets for other members back in the day and I know they worked for a while.
 
Yeah, I've had the original springs in my original 556 griptilian since 2002, and the ones in my Ritter grip, circa... probably about 2006 or 2007 I think? Whenever they came out. Both used very heavily, no failures. +1 to the "something else is causing these breakages" file.
 
You revived the thtrad, appreciate the pics so how about a little data to go with it, when did you make them, how hard was it, how long did it take what materials and tools did you use? Share the info dude lets everyone benefit.

I can see by the wear marks on the liner it's been awhile, looks like you used needle nose pliers, the problem with that is there's no real radius it looks like it's comprised of many angle bends approximating a radius. Probably a board and pin set up to make a bending jig would insure a more consistent spring shape with a smoother radius. How may time do you think you've opened and closed this new homemade omega like spring. I think it's great when members solve their own problems like this, even better when the info gets shared. Thanks for what you did post, a little more detail would greatly be appreciated. :)
 
I made the springs sometime in early January of 2014 and have been playing with and opening it several dozen times a day for about a year as it is so smooth.
I can't remember the exact music wire I used, but I had to go to an actual music store with my dad to get the wire, and I think it was 0.7 mm in diameter.
As you said I did use needle nose pliers and it actually wasn't too hard to do; looked up pictures on how the omega spring looked like and copied it basically.
The pull on the bar feels almost exactly the same as a genuine AXIS lock except at first it was really stiff; eventually it did become smooth somehow.
That picture was taken recently after I found it in the house about a month ago after another year of laying in a drawer, so that is why it looks so dirty.
As for why it was laying in a drawer for a year, I had been diagnosed with a mental illness and my parents wouldn't let me near any knives until my condition stabilized, and thus the knife hobby went away for that length of time.
Recently I've gotten a lot better.

So to summarize:
> Wasn't too hard to do with only music wire and pliers
> Opened and closed at least 1000 times
> The springs did not break after staying in the same position closed for a year
 
Mephtyrm said:
I made the springs sometime in early January of 2014 and have been playing with and opening it several dozen times a day for about a year as it is so smooth.
I can't remember the exact music wire I used, but I had to go to an actual music store with my dad to get the wire, and I think it was 0.7 mm in diameter.
As you said I did use needle nose pliers and it actually wasn't too hard to do; looked up pictures on how the omega spring looked like and copied it basically.
The pull on the bar feels almost exactly the same as a genuine AXIS lock except at first it was really stiff; eventually it did become smooth somehow.
That picture was taken recently after I found it in the house about a month ago after another year of laying in a drawer, so that is why it looks so dirty.
As for why it was laying in a drawer for a year, I had been diagnosed with a mental illness and my parents wouldn't let me near any knives until my condition stabilized, and thus the knife hobby went away for that length of time.
Recently I've gotten a lot better.

So to summarize:
> Wasn't too hard to do with only music wire and pliers
> Opened and closed at least 1000 times
> The springs did not break after staying in the same position closed for a year
Click to expand...

Glad you're better now, i had a HK Mini Axis with broken spring too, the knife came in the mail with lock rock. After 2 month of use and probably 200 opening cycles the spring broke. Replaced the spring the lock rock was almost gone, after some usage the lock rock is back. Maybe the spring breakage comes from bad tolerance?

-Kevin
 
My knife spent 22 months underground. Outside. With temps from 20 degrees to 110 degrees. In a wash. That ran a bunch of times.

The springs had galvanic corrosion like the rest of the knife. I posted pics here. They lasted another 6 years or so before I sent it back this year for overhaul.

Go figure.
 
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